Uploaded April 2016 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
In the second part of our best settings for OBS Studio video, we talk about recording, audio, video, hotkey, and advance options.
Next Video .....► goo.gl/zzZgqE
Previous Video .....► goo.gl/b9dh7V
~
FREE DOWNLOADS
Get the files used in our videos here .....► goo.gl/Fl4Isp
~
OBS Studio Download Link: goo.gl/71XhD7
View the guide on our website: goo.gl/0vUQGY
Ending Track: goo.gl/UKpjkB
~
Support me at patreon.com/nerdordie
Check out NerdOrDie.com
Follow Nerd or Die on Twitter twitter.com/nerdspwn
Watch the Nerd or Die Live Stream twitch.tv/nerdordie
-----
TRANSCRIPT EXCERPT
Hey everyone welcome to part 2 of our OBS Studio general settings video. If you missed the first video you probably want to go back and watch it to catch up to speed and see what we talked about so far. In this video we're going to cover the remaining section in Output which is going to be a bit about how to set up the best recording settings in OBS Studio. Then we're going to get into the audio, video, hotkeys, and advanced tabs.
Okay so let's open up OBS Studio and then go back tn the settings menu, we’re going to continue under Output tab. Let’s take a look at the recording options. First, the recording path will determine where our recordings will be saved. I sometimes use OBS to just record screen captures, and more - sometimes while I’m streaming! The next option we want to select is the recording quality. This by default is set to “Same as stream” but, might not be best for you. Let’s say you’re streaming at a lower bitrate and resolution, but you want to capture high quality videos for use on YouTube or in other videos - you can change that here. If you have a lot of extra hard drive space - you can use lossless quality, but I’ve found indistinguishable quality to work quite well. Next, I like to use .mp4 as my recording format. Hit apply to save.
In the audio tab, we’ll leave most of the settings at their defaults. The first option I want to talk about here is the “Desktop Audio Device”. This will basically tell OBS what sounds from your computer to pick up. Generally, leaving this on “Default” option is what most people will want. For most cases this means that OBS will broadcast the sounds that play through your default audio device, which will typically plays all the sounds your computer makes, including music, voice chat, and the game. More advanced tutorials will explain how you can include only certain sounds in your stream.
For Mic/Auxiliary device, you’ll see that “Default” is selected already. However, if you’re like me, you might have multiple mics attached to your computer. If you’re unsure what your default mic is set to, then you can directly select the microphone you’d like to use here. For myself, I’m going to choose my AT-2020 mic.
You can also see that we can add multiple mics and desktop devices if we need to.
We can also choose to enable push-to-mute, which is useful if you want to avoid loud noises like coughs on stream, or push-to-talk which is great if you have a lot of background noise and want there to be silence from your mic unless you’re talking. If you select these, I’ll show you how to set up their hotkeys in just a bit.
Let’s hit apply and move on to the video settings. The video tab is the last of the quote unquote important tabs, so let’s take a look. The base canvas resolution represents our starting resolution. I prefer to leave mine on 1920x1080, or 1080p, for a few reasons. First, I create all of my graphics are meant for this resolution, and second when I record videos they will be recorded at 1080p instead of a lower resolution. For most people, this should work fine. Next, our Output (scaled) resolution will represent what resolution of video is sent to the Twitch servers. This size will be determined by our bitrate. I’m going to check out Twitch’s recommendations for resolutions based upon our bitrate. The link to this page is in the description.
The bitrate I have set is 2,400kbs - so I’m going to downscale my resolution to 720p - or 1280x720 - which I can just type in or use the drop down to select. Leave the downscale filter and FPS option at their default values. Hit apply to save your settings so far.
In the second part of our best settings for OBS Studio video, we talk about recording, audio, video, hotkey, and advance options.
Next Video .....► goo.gl/zzZgqE
Previous Video .....► goo.gl/b9dh7V
~
FREE DOWNLOADS
Get the files used in our videos here .....► goo.gl/Fl4Isp
~
OBS Studio Download Link: goo.gl/71XhD7
View the guide on our website: goo.gl/0vUQGY
Ending Track: goo.gl/UKpjkB
~
Support me at patreon.com/nerdordie
Check out NerdOrDie.com
Follow Nerd or Die on Twitter twitter.com/nerdspwn
Watch the Nerd or Die Live Stream twitch.tv/nerdordie
-----
TRANSCRIPT EXCERPT
Hey everyone welcome to part 2 of our OBS Studio general settings video. If you missed the first video you probably want to go back and watch it to catch up to speed and see what we talked about so far. In this video we're going to cover the remaining section in Output which is going to be a bit about how to set up the best recording settings in OBS Studio. Then we're going to get into the audio, video, hotkeys, and advanced tabs.
Okay so let's open up OBS Studio and then go back tn the settings menu, we’re going to continue under Output tab. Let’s take a look at the recording options. First, the recording path will determine where our recordings will be saved. I sometimes use OBS to just record screen captures, and more - sometimes while I’m streaming! The next option we want to select is the recording quality. This by default is set to “Same as stream” but, might not be best for you. Let’s say you’re streaming at a lower bitrate and resolution, but you want to capture high quality videos for use on YouTube or in other videos - you can change that here. If you have a lot of extra hard drive space - you can use lossless quality, but I’ve found indistinguishable quality to work quite well. Next, I like to use .mp4 as my recording format. Hit apply to save.
In the audio tab, we’ll leave most of the settings at their defaults. The first option I want to talk about here is the “Desktop Audio Device”. This will basically tell OBS what sounds from your computer to pick up. Generally, leaving this on “Default” option is what most people will want. For most cases this means that OBS will broadcast the sounds that play through your default audio device, which will typically plays all the sounds your computer makes, including music, voice chat, and the game. More advanced tutorials will explain how you can include only certain sounds in your stream.
For Mic/Auxiliary device, you’ll see that “Default” is selected already. However, if you’re like me, you might have multiple mics attached to your computer. If you’re unsure what your default mic is set to, then you can directly select the microphone you’d like to use here. For myself, I’m going to choose my AT-2020 mic.
You can also see that we can add multiple mics and desktop devices if we need to.
We can also choose to enable push-to-mute, which is useful if you want to avoid loud noises like coughs on stream, or push-to-talk which is great if you have a lot of background noise and want there to be silence from your mic unless you’re talking. If you select these, I’ll show you how to set up their hotkeys in just a bit.
Let’s hit apply and move on to the video settings. The video tab is the last of the quote unquote important tabs, so let’s take a look. The base canvas resolution represents our starting resolution. I prefer to leave mine on 1920x1080, or 1080p, for a few reasons. First, I create all of my graphics are meant for this resolution, and second when I record videos they will be recorded at 1080p instead of a lower resolution. For most people, this should work fine. Next, our Output (scaled) resolution will represent what resolution of video is sent to the Twitch servers. This size will be determined by our bitrate. I’m going to check out Twitch’s recommendations for resolutions based upon our bitrate. The link to this page is in the description.
The bitrate I have set is 2,400kbs - so I’m going to downscale my resolution to 720p - or 1280x720 - which I can just type in or use the drop down to select. Leave the downscale filter and FPS option at their default values. Hit apply to save your settings so far.
